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There was a lot of head turning when District 4 school board candidate Aisha Carr’s campaign finance reports went public. Those statements revealed almost $4,000 in donations from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Manufacturers Association (MMAC), otherwise know as the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. The MMAC has been the push behind efforts to privatize Milwaukee Public Schools for years. On their website they advocate for public school resources to be siphoned off to fund unaccountable private charter and voucher programs. Carr has maintained she doesn’t support publicly financed private school vouchers and charters schools at recent candidate forums despite this significant chunk of MMAC campaign cash, but a recent piece in the Milwaukee Community Journal revealed otherwise.

In the article Carr has this to say about the MPS Takeover effort that was forced on the people of Milwaukee without any public input in the middle of the night as part of an Omnibus Budget bill in 2015:

By opposing that effort (MPS Takeover), the union and district was, in essence, turning their backs on the children, mostly black children. And they have done nothing since then to address the failure. That’s insulting.

So there you have it. Aisha Carr would have defied MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver, Board President Mark Sain and the popular grassroots movement built against the Takeover to stand with Republicans Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Dale Kooyenga and their Takeover scheme. This privatization agenda is the same one being pushed now nationally by Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos. Carr has publicly stated she supports Superintendent Driver’s reform agenda, but Driver and Board President Sain stood with the community against the MPS Takeover. It turns out Carr has stood with Darling and Kooyenga all along. The article went on to say:

Among her priorities would be community outreach, engaging the community to have a more direct role and influence on the district and the board. Less than 10% of eligible voters participate in school board elections.

Now that’s a rich quote. Carr wants to get the community more involved by taking more MPS schools out of the democratic control of the community? How does that logic work? A state takeover of schools only reduces the community’s ability to have a say at the school board because private institutions are under zero obligation to provide a forum to listen to parents’ concerns. There is zero accountability in Carr’s preferred model. That’s why every community in Wisconsin has a tradition of democratically elected school boards, but the same people who support Carr don’t want democracy for Milwaukee’s majority minority population.

Carr said the board should also establish a working relationship with state lawmakers. Currently the relationship – if you can call it that – is best described as adversarial.

Yes, an “adversarial” relationship is what develops when your funding is cut by over a billion dollars. Why would Milwaukee want to go to the same Republican legislators who have robbed our children and our community and ask to work together? The real Aisha Carr has revealed herself clearly. Get out and vote for Annie Woodward for District 4! Annie stood strong with Superintendent Driver and Board President Sain against the MPS Takeover because they knew passing parents’ democratic control to private third party operators isn’t the way to improve public education in Milwaukee. Annie understands that we must stand strong in support of public education, continue to push for a robust expansion of public Community Schools, and close the current per pupil funding disparities MPS students face compared to their suburban counterparts.

Annie Woodward is the People’s Candidate for MPS School Board District 4!

Annie Woodward helps beautify the halls of Washington High School for an MLK Service Day Project.

As we write this email, our Wisconsin state legislators are beginning to work on a new two-year state budget and we want to invite you to an “Art Build for Public Education” the first weekend in February to create materials to use during the upcoming state budget battle.Click here to register for the Art Build for Public Education.
We remember the last two-year state budget that in addition to slashing public school funding also included a midnight state Takeover of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Committed advocates like you that pushed back against the legislature taking away community control of our public schools and eventually thwarted the 2015 legislation. We know this legislative cycle the privatizers will come back even harder and we continue to build a movement against any state takeovers of our public schools. We are committed to fighting for expansion of the public Community Schools model that has a proven track record of strong performance and currently serves 6 million students.

The “Art Build for Public Education” is taking place Friday, February 3 through Sunday, February 5 in Milwaukee. A committee of MPS art educators and other community artists are developing images and slogans to be used for the weekend art build. The build will require lots of volunteers of every skill level to construct signs, banners, posters, etc. in anticipation of this long state budget fight.

Public education advocates will have many opportunities in the coming months to fight for greater funding for our children’s schools and against state takeovers that hand our democratically controlled school boards over to private third party operators. The materials created from this art build will support this fight across the state.

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Read what Detroit resident Mother Helen Moore has to say about Betsy DeVos:

In 2000 Betsy DeVos, a billionaire, led the voucher proposal placed on the Michigan ballot. Many of us met and organized to defeat her effort. We won, but she never stopped. She spent millions of her and her husband’s money to organize support for her efforts. She gave millions to the politicians to support her efforts to destroy public schools which has had an adverse impact on black and brown school systems in Michigan. She even organized her own corporation, Great Lakes Education Project, carry out her mission to destroy public education. She has been nominated as the Secretary of The US Department of Education. In my opinion this will destroy any hope of maintaining a sustainable education for our students.

It is critical that we join with Journey for Justice and other pro-public education organizations to express our strong concerns regarding her nomination.

Letter Writing Tips:

Michigan has had charter schools for almost 20 years, and Detroit now has an education system that has been described as “deeply dysfunctional,” and “where failure is rewarded with opportunities for expansion.” Devos basically funded the dismantling of the Detroit public school system.

According to the Detroit Free Press, “38% of charter schools that received state academic rankings during the 2012-13 school year fell below the 25th percentile, meaning at least 75% of all schools in the state performed better. Only 23% of traditional public schools fell below the 25th percentile.” The privatization movement in Michigan, in large part bankrolled and advocated for by Devos is an abject failure.

In 2008, Ms. DeVos’ PAC violated Ohio’s campaign finance laws, and was fined $5.3 million. Her PAC ignored a state advisory ruling that its action would be illegal and yet went ahead anyway. The fine remains unpaid and she gets rewarded with a cabinet post.

Because of Ms. DeVos efforts, nearly $1 billion of public education dollars have been drained each year from Michigan public schools into mostly for-profit charter schools of poor quality. According to the New York Times, “divisive politics and educational ideology … have combined to produce a public education fiasco that is perhaps unparalleled in the United States.” [2]

The Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll reveals that only 31 percent of Americans favor allowing students to attend private schools at public expense. [3] Since 1972, all attempts to create state voucher programs through referendum have failed, generally by two-to-one margins. [4] Recent research has concluded that public school students who receive vouchers to attend private schools score much lower on both reading and math tests than similar students who remain in the public schools. [5]

Sample Form Letter

Dear Senator __________,

I am writing to let you, as a Senator on the HELP Committee, that I am in opposition of Betsy DeVos being appointed the Secretary of Education. I want all members of the HELP Committee to know that I would like them to strongly oppose the appointment of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. I believe in my community’s public schools. Betsy DeVos believes in school privatization and vouchers, which has harmed children in communities across the country.

The charter system she bankrolled in Michigan is among the worst in the country. Instead of education equity, she promotes vouchers and online schools. I choose great public community schools for our children. Schools that focus on smaller class size, positive discipline practices, and parent and community engagement.

Betsy DeVos is unqualified to make that a reality. I am asking the HELP Committee to vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos.

Script: My name is xxxx and I am calling to let the Senator know that I would like him/her to oppose the appointment of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education.

DeVos and her family heavily lobbied the Michigan legislature to shield the charter industry from greater oversight. She pushes for-profit charter schools and online schools, which consistently fail the students that they are supposed to serve.

I want my tax dollars to stay in my community to support my public schools. Betsy DeVos is bad for American education. She is unqualified to serve as Secretary of Education.

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The task force will be taking input from advocates, teachers, parents, and policy experts across the nation. The task force will focus primarily on issues surrounding “inadequate school funding, charter school accountability and its impact on school funding for under-funded districts.”

It appears the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) learned nothing from the most recent state Takeover of MPS that was emphatically turned back by the people of Milwaukee. MMAC’s 2015-’17 agenda makes interference with the democratically elected Milwaukee school board a goal. MPS students receive thousands of dollars less in per pupil funding than their suburban counterparts, yet groups like MMAC, rather than help create jobs for a city rocked by unemployment and crippling poverty, can only offer up ideas that take away the voice and self-determination of the people of Milwaukee. Our students deserve the same opportunities that students in suburban schools enjoy instead of only being given options that privatize the public schools.

The MMAC is calling for another attempt at governance takeover of the MPS school board. Their 2015-2017 legislative agenda (see right hand column on their web page at the following link) calls for “Fundamentally reform MPS governance and empower the MPS Superintendent to make reforms within the district.”

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An educator at Wedgewood International School in Milwaukee during the October 6th day of action.

On October 6th, public education supporters organized one of the largest coordinated public education actions ever, a series of local school “walk-ins”. The walk-ins demonstrated support for the schools, “all our students deserve,” and lifted up specific local issues of equity and opportunity.

Over 2,000 schools with over 100,000 people were engaged. Many walk-ins included district administrators, local elected officials, civil rights leaders, clergy and of course parents and grandparents.

The campaign for the schools, “all students deserve,” is coordinated through the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools. See AROS principles here.

AROS held its first coordinated walk-in on February 17th of this last year with over 40 cities participating. It then held a second set of walk-ins on May 4th, with over 70 cities participating. With 234 cities participating on October 6th it has become clear that the movement to defend our public schools is rising. Example walk-in Video: Minneapolis.

Key Stats:

The National Education Association (NEA) had 98 cities registered for the event and over 1,000 NEA represented schools participated in the walk-ins. 73% of NEA locals participating in the walk-ins were doing so for the first time. Locals chose one or more local issues to lift up on the day of the walk-in. Below is a breakdown of the issues identified and percentage of locals that choose them:

This NEA Story Captures the breadth of national attention and press coverage received for this event. It also captures social media, pictures and video. Please click on link below to see the scope of the coverage and social media attention the walk-ins garnered:

The #4 Trending Topic on Twitter on the Morning of October 6th was #ReclaimOurSchools.

Just in Radio and T.V. interviews alone, we had a verified impression reach of over 3.6 million people. See complete additional clips after the list of participating cities.

In Chicago, the walk-ins served not only as a way to call for more funding but also as a way to rally support for teachers, who plan to strike next week if their union does not reach a contract deal with the school system.

The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools is mobilizing thousands of parents, students and educators at 238 schools across the country today to protest inadequate funding of public education, diversion of public dollars to charter schools, and funding inequities in black and brown communities. Participants will gather outside public schools before the start of the school day and “walking in” en masse. AROS expects roughly 100,000 people to participate — “probably more,” a spokesman told Morning Education. In Massachusetts, walk-ins will campaign against Question 2, a ballot measure that would allow for the expansion of charter schools in the state. Many of the demonstrations will be led by teachers’ unions — NEA President Lily Eskelsen García will attend a walk-in in Wake County, N.C., for instance — while others are being coordinated by parent groups, such as in Prince George’s County, Md.

Ferguson was upbeat and enthusiastic despite the limited turnout, saying she wasn’t disappointed. “Absolutely not,” Ferguson said. “This is the first event of its kind in Kenosha, and this is the first school. It’s being done at many schools in Milwaukee. It’s being done statewide for public education. This is to raise awareness about how important it is to fund public education. The state needs to fund us.”

“We want the next president to close the Wall St. billionaire tax loopholes that rob our public schools of the money they need to provide our children with the education they deserve. Many schools in Black and Brown communities across the country are called failing. But it is the students, parents and educators that have been failed.”

“In a moment when a couple dozen investment bankers in the U.S. together make more than every kindergarten teacher in the country combined, we know something is very wrong,” said Blair. “Many schools in Black and Brown communities across the country are called failing. But it is the students, parents and educators that have been failed.”

In a visit to Spring Garden Elementary School, Tim Kaine said he didn’t think Donald Trump was a good role model for children, and he saw distress in the Republican camp.

“I think there’s a level of desperation in the Trump campaign right now. Donald clearly did a very very poor job at the debate — at his first debate. And then two nights ago, his running mate basically threw him under the bus.”

“We know what can happen when students have the opportunity to learn in environments that are safe, adequately funded, inspiring, and positioned to help them reach their full potential,” Eskelsen García said. “Across the country today, people who believe in the power of public education are proclaiming that we will not apologize for standing up for the needs of our students, our educators, communities, and public schools. All of us—students, educators, parents and the entire community are all in for public education.”

The Walk-In for Public Education is organized by the local Educators Association, and on a larger scale by the National Education Association. More than 200 communities from coast to coast were expected to participate in their own events.

The goal is to bring awareness to financial cuts to public school funding while also bringing positive support to the district and its educators.

“Will we prepare our students and our communities to thrive not just today but tomorrow? And together 900 schools across the country, thousands of parents we demand it and we will not stop until we get it,” said AROS National Director Keron Blair.

Parents, teachers and students who are concerned about how public schools are funded are holding walk-ins at schools in Connecticut today, as well as across the nation, in protest and to call on leaders to better fund the schools.

Nine Meriden schools are taking part in this event, as well as several other school districts across the state. The goal behind these walk-ins is to “reclaim the schools” and shine a spotlight on all the good that teachers do and the success of their students. The event also is used to send a powerful message.

“To have a free public education available to them with teachers who are invested in their success and you can see them as a whole person, not just a test score, I think that’s important for success,” Peters said.

The ‘walk-ins’ are actually mini rallies that start 15 minutes prior to the school day. After the rallies, the school day will begin on-schedule. The event is behind held in conjunction with The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS), an organization that works on behalf of “educational justice and equity in access to school resources and opportunities.”

“Our teachers want less testing. Parents want less testing. Our teachers want authentic assessment and a realistic view of how their child is doing. Our communities want that,” he said. “Our parents don’t believe their students are doing F work, and our teachers know they’re not. And they want a reflective tool. They want something that reflects the hard work that the kids are doing.”

As for the walk-in event itself, Emporia High School students and faculty showed pride in their school by creating different posters about why education funding is so important for the welfare of Kansas residents.

“I was in high school when the desegregation order was signed in 1971,” Bellovich said. “White people left in droves,” which he said challenged the viability of the neighborhood school model in Detroit.

“When I was a student, we were held up as a national model for great schools,” Bellovich said.

That’s not the case anymore, said Shawn Kendrick, a Detroit schools parent who worried that Detroit students not only were behind their suburban counterparts, but students globally.

“It is the promise to boys and girls all over our nation, the opportunity to have a bus pick you up every day and transport you safely to school, to have a teacher waiting for you behind closed doors, and to have a nutritional lunch, and to transport you back home safely every day,” Lansdale said. “That’s called the promise of public education.”

Both Grime and Adkins said the walk-in is not directly related to the recent controversial state report cards on school districts. The Port Clinton City School District received an “A” on graduation rate and a “B” on progress, but a “D” on achievement and an “F” in “gap closing,” which tracks “how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our most vulnerable populations of students in English language arts, math and graduation.”

“Instead of a walk-out, it’s a walk-in because we wanted to show we are in support of our parents and students,” said Mo Kashmiri, associate executive director of FTA. “We don’t want to go back to the days of layoffs and cutbacks. We’re going to fight for our students and our profession. We’re sick of not being No. 1.”

“Anchorage students deserve the best possible education we can provide”, said Brinna Wojtalewicz, Anchorage Education Association President in a press release. “By encouraging students, parents, and educators to work together we can make Anchorage schools and community stronger.”

Ipsita Lizardi, a parent of 11 and 12 year old’s, is passionate about high quality public education. “I was educated around the world and I chose public schools in Springfield because I met the teachers and they are incredibly dedicated, and if there’s going to be any expansion of funding for education, it should be for the teachers.”

“I am a property owner with lots of acres, and it greatly affects me. But as a community member who pays a great deal of property tax and an employee of the district, I fully support N and O,” Blount said as she waved a sign at passing cars on Geer Road. Beside her, sixth-grade teacher April Welch said passing Proposition 55 was essential for low-income schools, including Crowell. “We want to give them the best we can here to raise them up and give them the best chance at college,” Welch said.

“We will never walk out on public education,” Cohen said. “We will never walk out on our students. Today, in a sign and a show of solidarity, we are walking in to guarantee a great public school for each and every student.”

AROS says 1,000 schools in 200 cities participated in the event. While signs were given to students to write whatever they wanted, the students did not go negative. Some used the Alliance’s “We Demand the Schools All Our Children Deserve.” Others hand-wrote “All Our Children Deserve… A Voice, A Safe Environment, or Better Recreation.”

“We want the next president to close the Wall St. billionaire tax loopholes that rob our public schools of the money they need to provide our children with the education they deserve. Many schools in Black and Brown communities across the country are called failing. But it is the students, parents and educators that have been failed.”

“We absolutely cut more than a million dollars from our budget during this block grant period of time. And we had to let go of over 70 full time employees, 12 of those were teachers,” said Aaron Estabrook, Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 board member.

The morning culminated with a walk-in at each school site. The local Trenton AROS (Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools) coalition was one of 200 districts across the country advocating for schools that our students deserve. As students and staff entered the building you could hear the chants of “Whose schools? Our schools; Whose kids? Our kids.”

St. Marcus leaders directed their parents of children with disabilities to apply for open enrollment at suburban districts that they knew had no seats available and that they knew their parents had no desire to attend. Once the districts denied the applications, the St. Marcus children were eligible for the higher-paying vouchers.

While it is technically legal, it seems pretty unconscionable that a school’s leadership would be asking parents and guardians to purposely engage in behavior that reeks to the average taxpayer, especially when we learn where those questionably obtained tax dollars came from:

Milwaukee Public Schools has the largest number of resident children using new special-needs vouchers. The district will lose about $1.8 million in state aid to pay for about 150 resident students.

Voucher schools like St. Marcus, although they claim they provide specialized services for students with special needs, are under no obligation to do so and the parents who send their students to St. Marcus or any other voucher school waive all disability rights their children would have in a public school district. Wisconsin taxpayers deserve to see their tax dollars dispersed in a transparent way that does not allow voucher schools like St. Marcus to game the system and in the process siphon critical dollars from the only schools that have the commitment, capacity, and legal responsibility to educate all children, including students with special needs.

MILWAUKEE (October 12, 2016) Milwaukee Public Schools is no longer required to participate in the Opportunity Schools and Partnership program, according to a letter released today by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The letter issued today informed MPS it will not have to participate in the program because the district is no longer in the bottom category in the state school report card. Only school districts in the lowest category of the state report card for two consecutive years are required to participate in OSPP.

“While we are energized by the progress we’re making, we still have significant work to do,” said Dr. Driver. “We are working with students, staff and dozens of community partners to better prepare all of our young people for success, particularly at the secondary school level.”

MPS has committed to rethinking high schools by expanding college-level Advanced Placement and International…

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We did it! The Department of Public Instruction just sent a formal letter informing Milwaukee Public Schools that they are no longer in the bottom category of school ratings, moving the district out of consideration for the OSPP (Opportunity Schools Partnership program, otherwise know as the MPS takeover):

Milwaukee Public Schools is no longer required to participate in the Opportunity Schools and Partnership program, according to a letter released today by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The letter issued today informed MPS it will not have to participate in the program because the district is no longer in the bottom category in the state school report card. Only school districts in the lowest category of the state report card for two consecutive years are required to participate in OSPP.

MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver, Milwaukee Board of School Directors President Mark Sain and Vice President Larry Miller, will be available to speak to the media at 2 p.m. today, Wednesday, Oct. 12 at MPS Central Services, 5225 W. Vliet St., Room 103.

“While we are energized by the progress we’re making, we still have significant work to do,” said Dr. Driver. “We are working with students, staff and dozens of community partners to better prepare all of our young people for success, particularly at the secondary school level.”

MPS has committed to rethinking high schools by expanding college-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes as well as career and technical education offerings. This year, 21 percent of all MPS high school students are taking a college-level class. The district also added more than 350 students to a culinary arts program as it expands career and technical education options.

While the details of the state report card will not be released until next month, MPS’ local STAR assessment data shows growth in student achievement and signs that the district is closing achievement gaps:

Literacy is improving across all grade levels.

The number of students on target for proficiency in reading improved last year by two percent.

Early reading skills increased significantly, with 51 percent of all K5 and 1st grade students on target at the end of the school year compared to only 43 percent on target at the beginning of the school year.

“We are heading in the right direction. Our collective focus as a community must be on working together to support our young people,” said MPS Board President Mark Sain. “If we continue to do the right thing for our students, we will not fail.”

Last year, the Wisconsin Legislature made changes to the school report card to improve transparency and authenticity. That included weighting school performance to account for student poverty rates, student disabilities and the length of time a school has had to influence a student’s academic progress.

Thanks to everyone who stood up and demanded better for Milwaukee students! Our fight is not over, as we expect the same politicians in Madison to continue with the attacks, but for now we celebrate! We will continue to work with parents, students, and community supporters to win the public Community Schools and equitable and fair funding ALL of our students deserve.